February uprising in Soviet Armenia
Dashnak-led revolt against Soviet rule in Armenia in February 1921, sparked by Cheka arrests, requisitions and repression. Rebels briefly retook Yerevan before Red Army forces returned; defeated insurgents retreated to Zangezur.
Account
Background
The Soviet takeover of Armenia initially promised order after military defeat, but arrests, requisitions and Cheka violence quickly alienated many Armenians. Former officials, officers and Dashnak networks still had armed capacity.
Uprising and defeat
In February 1921 rebels seized Yerevan and proclaimed a Committee for Salvation of the Fatherland under Simon Vratsian. Soviet forces withdrew temporarily, then regrouped. By April the Red Army retook Yerevan. Insurgents retreated to Zangezur, where Garegin Nzhdeh's forces held out before withdrawing toward Iran.
Meaning
The uprising demonstrated that Soviet rule in Armenia was imposed, resisted and only then normalised through force editorial. Soviet historiography described counter-revolution; Dashnak memory described national resistance. A balanced reading sees a society that accepted Sovietisation under duress, then rebelled when the new regime behaved like an occupation authority.